Coming to a home near you…

Having your kitchen taken over by chefs and hosting 30 strangers for dinner on your living room floor on some weeknight is not your typical homeowner’s dream. However, this past Tuesday, Tim and Jon graciously opened up their home and hosted a very short notice Ghetto Gourmet dinner in their split-level townhouse in the Mission. Normally, GG dinners are held on Mondays but just 5 days prior, Jeremy, GG’s convivial host and founder, had been contacted by a production company in association with the Food Network. The production company is working on a special feature for the Food Network, touring major U.S. cities (Miami, L.A., Las Vegas, Honolulu, SF, and Austin) in search of “good eats” off the beaten track in the span of 13 days. And they chose GG, which isn’t even an official restaurant…yet! The menu, prepared by self-taught Chef Cynthia Washburn, included an ahi crispy wonton tower with shiso, red curry aioli and tobiko caviar; grapefruit avocado salad with butter lettuce and coriander vinaigrette; and cinnamon roast duck with green lentils and mango chutney. Chef Kenny Lowe provided rose, cardamom, and ginger-wasabi handmade truffles as well as sweet dumplings in sweet green tea, topped with chocolate spoons. The show, “Summer Destinations”, featuring Oakland’s best known secret, Ghetto Gourmet, will air on the Food Network on June 17.

So, if you’re looking to experience GG, turn on your TV come June 17, or else hit up Jer and offer up your place! You never know who’ll show up — a film crew, a blues guitarist, a stand-up comedian, belly dancer, you name it.

Watch out, you’re on TV!

Lynn and Kristin had just gone to the dinner the week before, celebrating GG’s 2nd Year Anniversary. However, the oven broke, and so crew had to run roast hens to and from the neighbor’s house. Nonetheless, most of the guests patiently stayed until 11:30pm and these two gals returned the next week to give GG a second chance!